Suns, Wolves, Hawks Expected To Have Interest In Andre Iguodala
While Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant will receive most of the attention among the Warriors free-agents-to-be, Andre Iguodala is also on track to reach the open market this summer, and figures to draw interest around the NBA. League sources tell Ramona Shelburne and Chris Haynes of ESPN that the Suns, Timberwolves, and Hawks are expected to be among the teams with an eye on Iguodala this offseason.
Iguodala has seen his scoring numbers dip since joining the Warriors in 2013, but has been a crucial piece of the team’s rotation as a solid defender and passed with the ability to make the occasional three-point shot. In 2016/17, the veteran swingman came off the bench in 76 games, averaging 7.6 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 3.4 APG, and a .528/.362/.706 shooting line. He’s a finalist for the league’s Sixth Man of the Year award.
Iguodala’s skill-set and veteran leadership would be valuable to a number of teams, and it will be tricky for the Warriors to keep him around is Durant opts out and wants to sign a full maximum salary contract. However, Durant is said to be open to the idea of accepting less than the max, which would allow Golden State to hang onto Iguodala’s Bird rights and go over the cap to re-sign him.
Given the success Iguodala and the Warriors have enjoyed together in recent years, I’d expect Golden State to be the strong frontrunner to sign him to a new deal in July. If the Dubs hesitate at all though, there should be no shortage of rival suitors ready to swoop in with strong offers.
NBA Reveals Award Finalists
The NBA is in the process of revealing its finalists for each of the major year-end awards on TNT, the winners of which will be announced at the official award show on June 26.
Below is an ongoing list that we’ll update as the NBA on TNT crew reveals more.
Most Improved Player of the Year
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Rudy Gobert
Nikola Jokic
Hoops Rumors Analysis: MIP
Sixth Man of the Year
Eric Gordon
Andre Iguodala
Lou Williams
Hoops Rumors Analysis: Sixth Man
Rookie of the Year
Malcolm Brogdon
Joel Embiid
Dario Saric
Hoops Rumors Analysis: ROY
Coach of the Year
Mike D’Antoni
Gregg Popovich
Erik Spoelstra
Hoops Rumors Analysis: COTY
Defensive Player of the Year
Rudy Gobert
Draymond Green
Kawhi Leonard
Hoops Rumors Analysis: DPOY
Most Valuable Player of the Year
James Harden
Kawhi Leonard
Russell Westbrook
Hoops Rumors Analysis: MVP
Andre Iguodala Sidelined For Game 2
Warriors small forward Andre Iguodala has been ruled out for Game 2 against the Spurs Tuesday night due to left knee soreness, reports Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com. An MRI performed Monday revealed no structural damage, but the Warriors continue to be cautious with the veteran as they have done all season.
Iguodala will not be the only former NBA Finals MVP to be sidelined for the game. Spurs leading scorer Kawhi Leonard will also miss the contest. The Warriors lead the series 1-0.
No Structural Damage For Andre Iguodala
An MRI conducted Monday on Andre Iguodala produced some good news for the Warriors, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical.
The veteran swingman has no structural damage in his injured left knee, which limited his availability in the Western Conference finals opener with San Antonio. Iguodala was experiencing pain in the knee on Sunday and played just 10 minutes. He is listed as questionable for tonight’s Game 2.
Iguodala has spent four years with the Warriors and has been a key member of the rotation during their two runs to the NBA Finals, earning Finals MVP honors in 2015. He is averaging 7.0 points 4.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists in nine playoff games this season.
The MRI results are also good news for the 33-year-old as he approaches free agency this summer. Iguodala is making slightly more than $11.1MM in the final season of a four-year, $48MM contract and is expected to seek a long-term deal with a nice raise. He has expressed a desire to remain with Golden State, but the Warriors will have to work out new contracts with Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant this summer, which means finding money for a max deal with Durant without owning his Bird rights.
Pacific Rumors: Iguodala, Kings, Lakers, Tomjanovich
Warriors forward Andre Iguodala is listed as questionable for Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, the team’s PR department tweets. He underwent an MRI on his left knee Monday, according to ESPN.com’s Chris Haynes, and obviously the results were satisfactory even though the team has yet to provide details. Iguodala could still be rested as a precautionary measure, a source told Haynes. He did not practice on Monday. Iguodala was a non-factor in Game 1, playing just 10 minutes and scoring two points. Stephen Curry also sat out practice but will play in Game 2, acting coach Mike Brown told Haynes and other reporters.
In other developments around the Pacific Division:
- The Kings plan to move their D-League affiliate out of Reno after next season, according to Scott Howard Cooper of NBA.com. The Kings want their affiliate to be closer to Sacramento and playing games at multiple locations is a consideration, he adds. (Twitter links).
- The Lakers should try to trade for Pacers star Paul George this offseason rather than waiting to pursue him as an unrestricted free agent after next season, according to a panel of ESPN basketball experts. All but one of the five members on the panel believe that acquiring George now is worth the risk of losing him after just one season. Baxter Holmes opines that the Pacers would want a package of young players, including Brandon Ingram, and a draft pick in return.
- Rudy Tomjanovich is no longer with the Lakers’ organization, Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News reports. Tomjanovich has served as a consultant in various capacities for over a decade and was also a scout for the team’s analytics department last season. Tomjanovich’s son, Trey, has also lost his job as a consultant and statistical analyst.
Andre Iguodala Likely To Remain With Warriors
Andre Iguodala will be a free agent this offseason, but he’s unlikely to leave Golden State, according to Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group. A source tells the scribe that the real question is how many years will Iguodala’s next deal with the Warriors run.
A new contract for Iguodala will have to wait until other dominos fall in the Bay Area this offseason. The Warriors could face cap issues as they try to re-sign Kevin Durant. Kawakami notes that they would have to get creative in order to open up the necessary cap space for a Durant max deal and those efforts may include renouncing the rights to Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. Taking that route would forfeit Iguodala’s Bird Rights, something that would limit the amount they can offer the 2015 NBA Finals MVP.
If Durant is willing to take merely a 20% raise on his 2016/17 salary, the team would not have to fit him into cap space and they could retain the bird rights of its other players, Kawakami notes. Durant could sign another two-year deal with a starting salary of approximately $31.8MM, which would contain another opt-out after the first season. That amount would come in roughly $4MM less than the maximum he could receive, so it’s not a given that the team takes this path.
Durant doesn’t plan on leaving Golden State and he hasn’t given much thought to his contract situation. Regardless of what happens with his option this summer, he wants the team to stay together.
“I haven’t thought about it, but obviously you want to keep this group together,” Durant said. “We want to see how far we can go with this thing. I’m sure once the season’s over with, we’ll figure that stuff out everybody. I’m sure it’ll all work out for the best.”
Kawakami adds that Golden State’s plan all along was to keep this core together for years to come and the franchise won’t change course anytime soon.
Pacific Notes: Barnes, Iguodala, Kings
Matt Barnes will not play for the Warriors in today’s playoff game against the Blazers, CBS Sports relays. Barnes, who was signed by the team earlier this season in the wake of Kevin Durant‘s knee injury, is dealing with a sprained right foot.
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Andre Iguodala is staying with Landmark Sports, Chris Haynes of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Iguodala was previously represented by Rob Pelinka, who left the agency to become the Lakers’ GM. The Sixth Man of the Year candidate made slightly over $11.13MM for the Warriors this season in the last year of his contract.
- Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee wonders if the Kings will be patient enough to build something sustainable. Jones believes the team needs to give its young talent time to develop, something that will require the ownership to have more patience than they’ve shown in the past.
- The Kings could draft a point guard and re-sign either Ty Lawson or Darren Collison to mentor the young prospect, Jones contends in a separate piece. Sacramento has plenty of cap room this summer and Jones believes it could mean a lucrative contract for one of its veteran point guards.
Durant Has No Plans To Leave Warriors
After hosting potential suitors at the Hamptons last summer, don’t expect a repeat performance from Kevin Durant in free agency this year.
Appearing on the Warriors Plus-Minus podcast, Durant said staying in Golden State will be an easy decision, relays host Tim Kawakami of The San Jose Mercury News.
“Obviously I’m thinking about the playoffs right now,” Durant said. “Haven’t even thought about [free agency] that much. But I don’t plan on going anywhere else.”
Durant rocked the NBA last July 4th when he announced that he was leaving Oklahoma City to join the Warriors. The two-year contract he signed contained a player option that gives him the freedom to negotiate an even larger deal this offseason.
Durant is eligible for a max contract starting at about $36MM for 2017/18. However, the Warriors don’t have his Bird rights because they just signed him a year ago, so much of that salary would have to come from cap space. To make that happen, Golden State would have to renounce Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston.
Kawakami notes that if Durant were to agree to a 20% raise, it would bump his salary from $26.5MM to $31.8MM without draining cap room. The team does have Bird rights on Iguodala and Livingston, so both could subsequently be retained without affecting the cap.
One possibility for Durant is another two-year deal with a player option for next summer, which creates the opportunity for an even larger contract starting with 2018/19.
“Like I said I haven’t thought about it, but obviously you want to keep this group together,” Durant said when asked about that possibility. “We want to see how far we can go with this thing. I’m sure once the season’s over with, we’ll figure that stuff out, everybody. I’m sure it’ll all work out for the best.”
Durant added that he is comfortable with his decision to come to the Bay Area, and he believes it’s the “perfect place” for him to play.
Sixers Notes: Simmons, Saric, McConnell
The Sixers lost to the Celtics in Game 7 of the 2012 Eastern Conference semifinals and Lavoy Allen believes that if Philadelphia had prevailed in that contest, the franchise would be in a much different position, as Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays.
“We would have had a couple of more years with [Nikola Vucevic], Andre Iguodala, and a few of the guys,” said Allen. “We would have had some more good years if we would have kept that team together.”
Instead, the team pivoted, making a trade for Andrew Bynum. The big man wasn’t able to stay on the court and a year later, The Process was born.
Here’s more from Philadelphia:
- Coach Brett Brown would like to see Ben Simmons participate in summer league, but it’s unclear if the 2016 No.1 overall pick will be healthy enough to play, Pompey passes along in the same piece. “His health and the judgment of his health rules the day. I don’t know what that looks like when we are talking about the summer league,” Brown said.
- Brown would like to see the Sixers add shooters this offseason, David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News relays. “We need shooters,” Brown said. “That’s kind of the bottom line. We need to get Ben Simmons the ball, we need to have Joel be Joel, and get a bunch of shooters around them.”
- Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Inquirer believes Dario Saric is best suited for a role off the bench next season. The scribe believes Joel Embiid needs someone who can shoot from behind the arc next to him in the frontcourt and Saric only made 31.1% of his 3-point attempts this season.
- If the Sixers want to win next season, T.J. McConnell may give them the best chance to do so, Marcus Hayes of the Philadelphia Daily News opines. Hayes is a fan of the point guard’s defense and he believes McConnell will return better immediate value at the position than Simmons or a first-round draft pick would.
Pacific Notes: Iguodala, Kerr, Joerger, Rob Pelinka
Andre Iguodala has been assessed a $10K fine for making “inappropriate comments” during a postgame interview, the league announced on its official website (link). Iguodala’s comments came after a 103-102 loss to Minnesota on Friday, when the 33-year-old was venting about not participating in a match-up with the Spurs. Steve Kerr had Iguodala’s back, claiming the 13-year vet likes to mess with the media.
“You guys just got Andre’d,” Kerr said to a group of reporters, including Chris Haynes of ESPN. “Andre is one of those guys who likes to stir the pot and has a lot of cryptic messaging at times. [He] jokes around. I didn’t take anything from it. It’s just Andre being Andre.”
Iguodala spoke with the press Monday, expressing regret for the impact of his comments.
“I feel like it’s the wrong time because it puts my team in that situation and coaching staff in that situation,” he told Ethan Strauss of ESPN. “I have a great relationship with Steve Kerr, and he knows that. Steve spoke to you guys about it, you know what I mean. Steve in his words, someone still may not believe him, but he and I are in a great place. We don’t even have to speak about it because he knew that in no way shape or form that I’m talking about him.”
More from around the Pacific…
- The Kings will be sticking with their veterans despite a losing record, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes. Coach Dave Joerger isn’t going to “throw away” the team’s remaining games in 2016/17, Jones writes, and will play veterans (Garrett Temple, Arron Afflalo, Anthony Tolliver) alongside young players. “I’m very happy with coach,” Afflalo said. “Throughout all of this, he’s remained very positive and encouraged us to win games. He’s playing to win, he’s doing the best that he can with our roster. I commend him for that. So, from a veteran perspective, you’ve always got to keep hope alive and to to go out there and take it one game at a time.”
- New Lakers GM Rob Pelinka plans to conduct individual meetings with his players, Tania Ganguli of the L.A. Times writes. “For Earvin [Magic Johnson], Luke and I, we see our fundamental purpose, not just one that’s all about leadership in terms of the front office, but that’s also one about service,” Pelinka said. “When I say that, we want to make sure that we establish a platform of excellence for the players in that locker room. That’s the heartbeat of the team. I think the message to the guys is we want to serve your needs to help you be great.”